I was able to catch the last half of the Florida Fishing Radio show this morning and during their talk about BASS fishing it came out they were aware of a minimum 6 “major” industry sponsors who have decided to discontinue with MLF, and they alluded to them also struggling mightily to get commitments from anglers for filling the fields in their FLW tours, particularly the Pro series. It was said more than once they don’t even have 150 committing to pro series, let alone the 175 that would fill the fields. Who would have thunk? I am guessing all those guys fishing farm pond tournaments that got the invites don’t think the $40k required entry fees is worth it for the privilege to call one self a pro and wear a jersey?

If FLW won't honor their commitments to anglers that made the championship, why would anyone fish with them.

I’m pretty sure that I already answered this in another of your posts. I fully understand and respect that Radio Shows and Podcasters can only discuss and opine on the data that’s in front of them but it’s all wasted breath at this point because they’re missing most of the context and have no insight to the sponsorship pipeline or actual angler entry data.

The ole “I hear they’re struggling from so and so” isn’t going to cut it. Sit tight, as I’ve mentioned, there’s announcements still to come, fields still to be announced and a lot of moving parts that will all get dialed in within the coming weeks.

Be patient and don’t panic. More Tigger and less Eeyore...

Yeah, we got a taste of the “announcements” with the Larry Nixon one that was thrown out there yesterday. While nothing should be taken away from Larry and his long list of accomplishments, the MLFLW announcement that implies he is looking for a fresh start kind of showed the desperation setting in, if for no other reason it’s misleading; because buried deep within the announcement disclosed he won’t even make the first cast until stop 4 or 5 on the tour, if at all depending on the outcome of his surgery and recovery. How many stops does the tour have total and if he fished a couple, does that warrant a big press release?

One thing you omit or fail to recognize is these radio show personalities are actually in direct contact with many of the anglers, sponsors, etc... they skip past the “data” part that’s being massaged into a positive spin by those who would benefit from such spin, and hear directly from the parties involved. These guys are friends with the players on both the angling and sponsor side... They made a point to say the sponsors who are bailing don’t want to make a big announcement about it, but noted just pay attention to “who’s not there” that normally would be at beginning of season.

Listen to the FLW podcast. The list of anglers is about set.

Would a podcast produced by FLW say anything different despite what the reality is? I think not.

I'f I'm not mistaken the Larry Nixon post was a simple blog post for FLW not a "press release" and how on earth you or anyone else can turn a blog post into desperation is interesting at best. That's in no way what I'm talking about from an announcement standpoint, no disrespect to Larry. I think you know what I'm talking about Big O/Seminole.

There's no way we can get all the way down this rabbit hole but who are those sponsors/brands? Are those sponsors/brands aligned with the Radio Show? What are those sponsors/brands agendas? What's the Radio shows agenda? Are they typically more aligned with BASS? Are they sponsors/brands who essentially were/are on the outside looking in with MLF? What's the angler mix between BASS and MLF for those sponsors/brands? Are there key objectives for the sponsors/brands that are better suited for one of the leagues? Do you see where I'm going with this? It falls back to my context/insight comments and jumping to conclusions without all of the details, in which you seem to be approaching expert level status.

There's a lot of factors that go into decision making for sponsors/brands and how/why they activate against properties. Most people rarely are going to get all the insight into why those decisions are made beyond surface level. All leagues have sponsors moving in/out both endemic and non. Angler themselves have sponsors moving in/out as well. It's a part of the business and it's not a sign of anything negative for any of them. Again, I've said this before in your previous posts and you seem to run right by it. It's in no way a signal of impending doom for any of them.

So who are the 6 sponsors that are discontinuing their relationship with MLF/FLW?

He said it's a secret. You have play detective next season to know who.

These post rants had me feeling so motivated that I got up this morning and watched me some MLF and it felt good! Why do all the crazies from other states find their way to a Texas fishing forum?

They didn’t say, and there won’t be an announcement, you will just notice them being gone from adverts, wraps, and jerseys next season; but I bet Mark knows who they are.

I am not saying it isn’t so but until it is known who left nobody has gone anywhere. When the fog all clears and we see who left you can weigh that against who came onboard. Just as an example if you lose Rapala and sign on Strike King that is really not any significant loss to gain ratio (this was just an example). Pretty much everything stays the same. Now from a reality stand point with the strength of the Lews/Strike King brand, if their anglers start leaving, MLF will have something to worry about.

Man, that FLW sure is in trouble. When you have to hang your hat on a man that was forced to retire and then offer him a free ride after having shoulder surgery, it has gotten bad there! No wonder everyone left. Wow, who’s even going to watch FLW with all those “nobodies” fishing next year!

I guarantee if 6 sponsors do leave it won't be because of your perceived "wrongs". It will be because it isn't financially advantageous to them. There will be 6 more in line to take their spots just like the ones that didn't receive their spots to fish for a guaranteed $10k and are stomping their feet saying how they will never fish it again. There will be more people in line to take their spots also. Life will go on and MLF will make tons more money. All these posts are doing nothing but giving them free advertising until their next season starts. I'm pretty sure that they are grateful for people like Big O because bad publicity is better than no publicity.

Do you remember Clayton Williams?